Interview

How to get a job at one of Remote Control Productions' 14 studios

Creative Producer Knut Gollert reveals top tips

How to get a job at one of Remote Control Productions' 14 studios

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We've previously covered the open positions at Munich-based Angry Birds Epic developer Chimera Entertainment, as well as vacancies around its wider developer family remote control productions, which are mainly situated in Germany and Austria.

But to find out more about what the group is up to, we got in contact with Knut Gollert, creative producer at rcp, to get more information on the available roles, tips for applying, and the types of candidates he's looking to recruit.

If you're thinking of applying, take heed!

PocketGamer.biz: Could you give us some background on Chimera Entertainment and rcp?

Knut Gollert: Chimera Entertainment was founded in 2006 by fellow students Christian Kluckner and Alexander Kehr.

Hendrik Lesser's remote control productions helped the founding of the company right from the start, and has since been accompanying and supporting Chimera with business services like business development, creative/ production, finance, human resource management, marketing and so on.

Thus, Chimera is able to fully concentrate on development.

We're experiencing steady growth, but we don't want our company to grow too big employee-wise all of a sudden.
Knut Gollert

In its infancy,Chimera spent 3 years in an 60m² apartment building's basement before moving into a 600m² office space together with rcp in 2010 and then into a 1400m² office in 2015.

Chimera is focusing on the development of mobile games as well as core games, and has already worked with multiple publishers and studios like Chillingo, DeNA, Rovio, DeepSilver and more.

Since our humble beginnings, rcp has built the biggest developer family in Europe, called the rcp Family, consisting of over 14 independent studios, with Chimera being the flagship studio.

Are there any specific areas/disciplines you're currently hiring in?

Chimera is now seeking an experienced Senior Game Designer who can bring industry experience in mobile and online gaming to enrich our game design department.

Chimera is also expanding its art department: In-house VFX and 3D Artists are wanted as well as a 3D Technical Artist. Other interesting vacancies include a dedicated recruiter and an Assistant HR Manager who takes care of finding and hiring talent.

Also, an experienced IT Operations Manager (aka ITOps), who oversees the studio's internal IT infrastructure will find a warm and comfy place.

We have employees from Norway, Russia, USA and Serbia, just to name a few.
Knut Gollert

We're listing all job opportunities on our job portal, which also includes job openings in our family studios spread around Europe.

As you're overseeing recruitment at rcp, what do you look for in candidates?

We're experiencing steady growth, but we don't want our company to grow too big employee-wise all of a sudden. Hence, we're looking only for the best people for every open position.

Chimera and rcp already are multi-national companies with employees from Norway, Russia, USA and Serbia, just to name a few (and, as a sidenote, Chimera's MD Christian Kluckner happens to be Austrian).

We're looking for open-minded people who are dedicated in their work and the things they produce. Everyone joining us should have the ability to take us a step further and make us and our games and services a bit better.

Why do you think rcp / Chimera is a good place to work? 

Our company culture is based on: "share knowledge, collaborate tightly, move fast". Having a lot of studios in the family, we can all take advantage of learning from others.

It may sound corny, but we ARE young and motivated teams, and we have a strong and experienced background in tech, art, game design and project management.

We also have very good connections to other companies in the game industry.

We share the same interests and love to spend our spare time together from time to time - whether it be playing games on PC or console, doing company events, or just meeting up in a beer garden around the corner enjoying the world's best beer in the world's most beautiful city.

We also just moved into a fresh and truly modern office tailored to our needs, which makes coming to work every day, fun.

What advice would you have for someone trying to get into the games industry?

a) Be persistent. We have some good people who tried over several months or even years to join us. When it first didn't work out, they tried a second and third time and then they made it.

Show that you can think out of the box with your professional expertise.
Knut Gollert

Also, demonstrate to your future employer that you’re not just persistent, but have made the best of the time and learned additional things. The reasons it might not work the first time may be different, but you will always get clear and honest feedback from the according HR manager.

b) Show that you can think out of the box with your professional expertise. Depending on the department you're applying to, it may not always be necessary that you're currently focused 100 percent on the gaming industry. Don't be afraid to join the industry as a career changer.

c) Understand the industry. Making successful games is a difficult business, and the people who make successful games are by nature, hardworking people. It's all about offering fun and entertainment while at the same time keeping the company afloat financially.

For job listings from every corner of the rcp family, visit its jobs page.

Features Editor

Matt is really bad at playing games, but hopefully a little better at writing about them. He's Features Editor for PocketGamer.biz, and has also written for lesser publications such as IGN, VICE, and Paste Magazine.